Thursday, November 28, 2013

Healthy Holiday Eating Tips for Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to You and Yours!!

http://cjaronu.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/rockwell_thanksgiving.jpg?w=525&h=681

(Photo) A Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving

(HealthCastle.com) Do you know that the average Thanksgiving dinner has over 2000 calories? It can be a real challenge if you are watching your waistline. The following are some eating tips so that you can still look good and be healthy after the Thanksgiving dinner without having to deprive yourself.

Healthy Holiday Eating Tips for Thanksgiving

If you are a guest of a Thanksgiving dinner:

  • Don't go to the Thanksgiving dinner hungry: we often eat faster and more when we are hungry - therefore eat a wholesome breakfast and lunch on the day to avoid overeating at dinner time.
  • Thanksgiving dinner is not an all-you-can-eat buffet: Fill your plate half with vegetables, one quarter with a lean meat and the rest with a starch of your choice. Eat slowly and stop when you are full.
  • Turkey - go skinless: choose your 4-oz turkey portion skinless to slash away some fat and cholesterol. Save your appetite for the side dishes and desserts.
  • Side Dishes - watch your portion size: go for smaller portions. This way you can sample all the different foods. Moderation is always the key.
  • Make a conscious choice to limit high fat items: high fat food items can be found in fried and creamy dishes as well as cheese-filled casseroles in a traditional Thanksgiving meal . For instance, mashed potatoes are usually made with butter and milk; green bean casseroles are often prepared with cream of mushroom soup, cheese and milk and topped with fried onions; candied yams are loaded with cream, sugar and marshmallows. If you cannot control the ingredients that go in to a dish, simply limit yourself to a smaller helping size. Again moderation is the key.
  • Drink plenty of water: alcohol and coffee can dehydrate your body. Drink calorie-free water to help fill up your stomach and keep you hydrated.

If you are the honorable chef of a Thanksgiving dinner:

  • Substitute high fat ingredients with lower-fat or fat-free ingredients. Learn about the 5 easy steps to recipe substitutions or see table below.
  • Leftover Turkey? Instead of turkey sandwiches, use the leftover turkey to make a pot of soup with fresh chunky vegetables.
  • Experiment with new recipes: we did a search on Google and found numerous delicious yet healthy low-fat contemporary Thanksgiving recipes. Experiment!

Healthy Thanksgiving Recipe Substitution Tips

Recipe calls for...    Substitution Sugestions

1 whole egg…    2 egg whites

sour cream…   low fat plain yogurt or low fat sour cream

milk…  skim or 1% milk

ice cream…  frozen yogurt

heavy cream (not for whipping)…   1:1 ratio of flour whisked into non fat milk (e.g. 1 cup of flour + 1 cup of non fat milk)

whipped cream…  chilled evaporated skim milk or other low fat whipped products such as Nutriwhip

cheese…  low-fat cheese (please note: non-fat cheese does not melt well if use in cooking or baking)

butter…  light butter

cream of mushroom…  fat-free cream of mushroom

Healthy Recipe for the furkids from JOMP:

HappyThanksgivingJOMP_thumb3

Thanksgiving Pet Recipe of the Day

Simple Roasted Organs

(This is a great recipe to make up for Thanksgiving to feed your canine friends… you can substitute chicken for the turkey and add a few turkey scraps at carving time, or just bake the liver and giblets and add the warm turkey as you carve… just go easy on the skin and watch for bones.)

This dish can actually double up as a treat, or healthy topping to your pet’s usual meal. Turkey giblets (hearts, livers and kidneys) are available from butcher shops and many natural food markets – and also come included with most Thanksgiving turkeys!

This recipe is super-simple and just about all pets love it! Turkey necks should not be used.

Ingredients

Up to 1 lb Turkey scraps, organs/giblets (don’t include bones)

6 tbsp Olive Oil

½ tsp Dried or Fresh Rosemary

1 Clove Garlic, crushed or finely diced (optional)

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Arrange the organs on a baking sheet. Slowly pour on the olive and gently shake the pan so that the oil is evenly distributed. Sprinkle on the rosemary and crushed garlic. Place in the oven and cook for about 35 minutes, until golden brown. Cool before serving and refrigerate any leftovers for up to 3 days.

For cats, dice the organs finely with a sharp knife before serving. This technique also works well to create bite-sized training treats that are a little bit different. 

The “Not So Safe” or No-No Pet Food List

How to keep your dog safe during Thanksgiving holidays

A Dogs Special Thanksgiving Day

Wishing you all a safe happy and Blessed Thanksgiving!!

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Obamacare: The New “Animal Farm”

GodFather Politics – Cross-Posted at AskMarion: Now that we’ve had just a few weeks of the mess that is ObamaCare, it brings home how grossly unfair it is for the political class to impose it on the rest of us and not have to abide by it (for as long as it lasts) — think Animal Farm (50th Anniversary Edition). It may yet collapse on its own weight.

I feel sorry for the younger generation (just out of college). They have less of a chance to get a good job with benefits. Many companies continue to downsize because of ObamaCare.

So these young people get less work. But they’ll have to pay more for healthcare, which they may never see. Assuming they can register for it, which we now know is a huge assumption.

Last week, one liberal blogger described how he had been all for ObamaCare. He was one of the few ones (relatively speaking) who managed to get through the computer system and register on-line. Lo and behold, his insurance costs were going to go through the roof, as was the deductible. So he said, forget it. He even said he won’t pay the fine either. Well, good luck with that.

ObamaCare seems simple to understand: You pay more, but you get less. Not to mention the loss of freedoms, the institution of a massive governmental bureaucracy, and the potential annihilation of healthcare as we know it.

At the very least, fairness would demand that all the politicians have to live under it. It’s grossly unfair to force the rest of us into a system that doesn’t seem to work, while the elite class has exempted itself from it.

All of this reminds me of the classic anti-Communist novel, Animal Farm , by the great British writer George Orwell (1903-1950). The short book is a parable of the Soviet Union.

And no, I’m not calling anyone a Communist. But Dr. Paul Kengor, Grove City College professor, documents in his book, The Communist (Kindle), Obama was mentored by Frank Marshall Davis, a member of the Communist Party USA (#47544). This is part of the public record.

Here’s a spoiler alert. In Orwell’s novel, you will recall, the animals revolt against the tyrannical farmer (Mr. Jones, a human), who represents the czar. But then as the animals look forward to sharing everything equally, the pigs in charge ultimately live high off the hog, so to speak.

After killing the farmer, the animals declare, “Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished forever.”

The animals post “Seven Commandments” — the final one stating, “All animals are equal.”

But as the plot develops, it becomes clear that the pigs (representing Josef Stalin, Leon Trotsky, and other Soviet leaders) have become an elite class.

At the end of the book, as the other animals — who do all the work and underfed — look into the farmhouse, they see the pigs enjoying a great meal. They can barely distinguish the pigs from the humans, whose regime they had rebelled against.Animal Farm_all animals are equal

The Seven Commandments had been changed to just two: “ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.”

Today, we seem to have an elitists’ class and the rest of us. As long as ObamaCare is implemented as the law of the land, then it ought to apply to the president, his family, his staff, the Senators, and members of the House of Representatives and their staff. The law (and tax) should be good enough for the Supreme Court and their staff as well.

I’ve heard some Congressmen complain that their staff members can’t afford it. Well, what about the rest of us?

Meanwhile, the Bible says differing standards are unfair and unjust: “Differing weights and differing measures — the Lord detests them both” (Prov. 20:10). Psalm 94:20 criticizes “those who frame injustice by statute.” Paul strongly criticizes Peter in Gal. 2:14 for forcing a standard on the Gentiles that he himself was not living by.

Our nation’s birth certificate declares that “all men are created equal.” Are we to assume that under ObamaCare, some are created more equal than others?

Animal Farm and 1984 (Kindle)

Sunday, November 24, 2013

California Rightly Rejects Illegal ObamaCare Fix

IBD: ObamaCare: California's health insurance exchange has decided not to allow insurance plans that do not meet the law's standards, rejecting the president's attempt to rewrite the law through executive action.

Recognizing the impracticality and illegality of President Obama's proposed "fix" for insurance policies canceled due to the Affordable Care Act's coverage mandates, the board of Covered California, the state's health insurance exchange, voted 5-0 against extending the 1 million California health care plans that were dropped under the law.

The Golden State follows several other blue states — including New York, Washington, Rhode Island and Minnesota — that announced they won't go along with the administration's proposed solution. State insurance commissioners make it clear that just in practical terms the fix is unworkable in the time available.

Reality bites, as they say, and the reality is insurance companies that altered insurance plans and computer software in a long, Herculean effort to comply with the law can't restore the status quo in weeks just because the president pulls an Emily Litella and says "never mind," without a constitutional or legal leg to stand on.

Obama's fix allegedly lets insurance companies continue selling the same individual health insurance plans they sold before the law, but only to those who currently own such policies, and only for another year.

"There's no way to make the federal law work without this transition to ACA-compliant plans," Covered California board member Susan Kennedy said. "Delaying the transition isn't going to help anyone; it just delays the problems. I actually think that it's going to make a bad situation worse if we complicate it further."

Covered California also recognized that letting people extend their existing health plans would also create a two-tier insurance system that would keep younger and healthier paying customers out of the ACA risk pool, paying customers that are needed to keep ObamaCare from financially imploding. These are people such as the 20-something male who can't understand why his premium and deductible must increase to give him maternity and pediatric dental care coverage he doesn't need.

Covered California Executive Director Peter Lee said the state can't force any insurance companies to extend their already-expired plans.

Many insurers, aside from noting the costly logistical nightmare reissuing canceled plans would create, have noted that they have complied with the law and the regulations, implementing it as written and that issuing noncompliant policies on the basis of presidential assurance is to stand on shaky legal ground.

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Keeping Pets Safe for Thanksgiving: The “Not So Safe” or No-No Pet Food List

pet-friendly-home Just One More Pet (JOMP) – Cross-Posted at AskMarion: The following foods are not safe for dogs, cats, potbellied pigs, or guinea pigs. Never give the following foods or beverages to your pets:

  • *Alcohol of any kind (a no-no for all animals)
  • *Anything with Caffeine (a no-no for all animals)
  • Avocados – especially for birds and cats
  • Baby food if it contains onion powder
  • Bones from Ham, Chicken, Turkey or Cooked Bones that can splinter
  • * (Raw) Bread or Yeast Dough
  • Candied Yams
  • Casseroles (unless you absolutely know that none of the no-no foods are in them)
  • *Chocolate and Cocoa (this includes things like brownies and chocolate chip cookies) and dark chocolate is the worst
  • Raw cookie dough can also kill dogs and small children.
  • *Grapes or raisins
  • Jell-O Molds
  • (Raw) Liver
  • *Macadamia Nuts (this includes things like cookies and pies) and go easy on nuts in general (nuts in general are not great for dogs, but walnuts, macadamia nuts, and pecans are particularly harmful and add the additional possibilities of health problems caused by fungus and mold. Peanuts and peanut butter are not on the no-no list but could also cause problems because of mold issues). Nuts are rich in monounsaturated fats, which are healthy for humans, but too much fat of any kind increases the risk of pancreatitis in dogs.
  • Milk (and American Cheese) can be a problem for some dogs. They can be lactose intolerant like some people.
  • Mushrooms, particularly wild mushrooms.
  • Nutmeg
  • *Onions, including onion powder (garlic should be fed in moderation)
  • Pecans, including Pecan Pie (nuts in general are not great for dogs, but walnuts, macadamia nuts, and pecans are particularly harmful and add the additional possibilities of health problems caused by fungus and mold.  Peanuts and peanut butter are not on the no-no list but could also cause problems because of mold issues).
  • Potato Skins and Green Potatoes (potatoes in general are not digestible by dogs).
  • Pork Products because of the nitrates
  • Stuffing (it usually contains onions, which are very harmful to pets)
  • Large amounts of Grains (often a main ingredient in cheap commercial pet foods)
  • *Raisins and grapes
  • Raw eggs (raw egg whites) – (According to the ASPCA, raw egg whites contain avidin, which damages a dog’s metabolism and creates a biotin deficiency, so they recommend owners should discard the white if feeding a dog raw eggs.  Others disagree.)
  • Tomatoes (plant and fruit) – All parts of the plant except the tomato itself are poisonous to humans
  • Vitamin A in large amounts causes toxicity
  • Walnuts (nuts in general are not great for dogs, but walnuts, macadamia nuts, and pecans are particularly harmful and add the additional possibilities of health problems caused by fungus and mold. Peanuts and peanut butter are not on the no-no list but could also cause problems, for humans as well, because of mold issues).
  • *Xylitol and anything with it in it.

Depending on the amount consumed and the size, breed, species and age of the animal many of the items above can cause death, but they definitely can and usually cause discomfort for the pet/animal, more and expensive vet bills for you, butt scooting, and stress in your pets and for you. Distention of the abdomen, vomiting, muscle tremors, paralysis bloody stool, depression, stress, jaundice, disorientation, diarrhea, lethargy, lack of coordination, difficulty breathing, tremors, coma, abnormal fluid accumulation, drooling, restlessness, anemia and seizures are among the symptoms and conditions that can be caused by the aforementioned foods.

The range of diseases and conditions caused or intensified by the No-No Foods for pets include: coma, heart arrhythmia and cardiac arrest, paralysis, pancreatitis, inflammation throughout the body, seizures and tremors, gastric-dilitation volvulus (twisted stomach) and death.

*Causing the most severe health problems and the most incidents of death.

Tobacco products and many plants and herbs are also bad for pets.  Poinsettias, tomato plants and the Sago Palm are among the common plants that are toxic to dogs/pets. 

How to keep your dog safe during Thanksgiving holidays

“Holidays Are Great and Fun To Share With Our Pets, As Long As We Avoid the No-No Foods”

Common Foods That Are Harmful Or Even Fatal to Dogs

Pets and Toxic Plants

More Dogs (and Cats) Getting High, Sick and Fat In States Where Marijuana Is Legal – Drugs, unless prescribed or are specifically made and approved for animals, are a No-No!

Cooking real food or feeding a raw diet is generally the best option for most pets, but pet parents need to know the general restrictions as well as those for their particular pet plus make sure that their furkids are getting all the nutrients they need and avoiding too many fats, sugars and of course the no-no food list!  Commercial pet food, including kibble, is a rather new creation along with pre-packaged, processed and restaurant-style junk food for humans, including baby food and baby formula, filled with questionable additives and unrecognizable ingredients; none of which are proving to be the best choices, just read the labels.  All were invented for the consumers’ convenience and the profit for their manufacturers not good health and nutrition. The more fresh and freshly prepared food from good sources, as well as mother’s milk over formula for babies, the healthier we, our children and our pets are and will be!

When Raw Food is NOT the Right Food for Your Pet

Every species, breed or type of animal has its own requirements and no-no’s.  As a pet parent or the parent of a learning pet parent, it is your job to find out what those requirements and no-no’s are and meet those needs.  A pet is a living creature that adds joy to our lives.  We are all God’s creatures and any animal is a gift that has been given to you to cherish and take care of properly!!

Senate Goes 'Nuclear' - Opens Door To Controversial Healthcare Board - Death Panel? - Kelly File

Video: Senate Goes 'Nuclear' - Opens Door To Controversial Healthcare Board - Death Panel? - Kelly File

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Pelosi taken apart by David Gregory on false Obamacare promises

Video: Pelosi taken apart by David Gregory on false Obamacare promises

1 in 3 Seniors Dies with Alzheimer's or Other Dementia - Updated

By Marion Algier - AskMarion

With the onset of the ObamaCare debacle which will take us to a single-payer socialized medicine system, where one of the architects and Obama’s Health Rationer-in-Chief, Zeke Emanuel, is pro-death panels and the creator of the Complete Lives System, under which a panel (rationing board) of administrators, not doctors nor healthcare trained practitioners (Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), will make the decision of how funds are spent and who will get care (equaling death panels)… patients, family members and caretakers of the largest growing incurable disease, Alzheimer’s-Dememtia (AD), should be very worried!

NBC – Bay Area/THITW: A new report from the Alzheimer's Association has some shocking and sobering statistics on the disease that has no cure.

Right now, some 5 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's, and that number is expected to dramatically increase as the "baby boomer" generation ages.

According to the Alzheimer's Association 2013 Alzheimer's Disease Facts & Figures report, one in three seniors dies with Alzheimer's or other form of dementia.

The report says dementia is the second-largest contributor to death, after heart failure.

The emotional cost to families is obvious, but the spiraling costs of care are also expected to skyrocket.

Alzheimer's symptoms include memory loss, poor judgment and changes in thinking and behavior. It is a progressive disease where the dementia symptoms worsen over time.

Harry Johns, President and CEO of the Alzheimer's Association, points out that there are no Alzheimer's survivors. He says if you have the disease, you either die from it or you die with it.

"Now we know that 1 in 3 seniors dies with Alzheimer's disease or another dementia. Urgent, meaningful action is necessary, particularly as more and more people age into greater risk for developing a disease that today has no cure and no way to slow or stop its progression," Johns said.

Alzheimer's disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and is the only leading cause of death without a way to prevent, cure or slow its progression.

Alzheimer's is one of those diseases that not only impacts the patient, but also puts a huge burden on families.

Last year, there were more than 15 million caregivers who provided more than 17 billion hours of unpaid care valued at $216 billion, according to the Alzheimer's Association. That doesn't take into account the personal toll on the caregiver themselves both medically and emotionally. In fact, 72% of senior caregivers die before the family member or patient they are taking care of.

When it comes to paid healthcare, the numbers are just as high. According to the new report the total payments for health and long-term care services for people with Alzheimer's and other dementias will total $203 billion this year.

2013 Health and Long-Term Care Services Breakdown

  • Medicare $107 billion
  • Medicaid $35 billion
  • Out-of-Pocket Costs $34 billion
  • Other Sources (HMO, Private Insurance) $27 billion
  • Total $203 billion

Video: Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures 2013

Many long-term care facilities and assisted living centers already won’t take AD patients on MediCare and MediCal.  Funds for help with in-home care is drying up, including for Veterans. 

ObamaCare expert and author of Beating Obamacare (Kindle), Betsy McCaughey, recently said: Obamacare was designed to vastly expand single payer Medicaid by eviscerating Medicare. McCaughey also recommends that babyboomers who are a bit too young for social security and Medicare related programs line-up their primary care physicians, internists, etc. now. Many physicians are leaving medicine altogether and many others will not be accepting any new MediCaid, MediCare or MediCal patients, especially if ObamaCare is not repealed or defunded.

Even progressive liberal Howard Dean recently had to admit that Sarah Palin was right and that ObamaCare has a ‘rationing’ panel, after all!  And who will those panels affect the most?… the elderly (Seniors), those with special needs, and certainly people who have chronic expensive diseases with no cures like Alzheimer’s and other Dementias!  We recently got our first glimpse of how this will work when cold-hearted HHS Secretary Sebelius denied a young girl a lifesaving lung transplantforcing the girl’s family to look to the courts for help. (And yes, that is the same Kathleen Sebelius who said she doesn’t work for you!)  Her family won that battle in court, the transplant was successful and she is now doing fine, but we know that this will not work for everyone or even most people in the future if ObamaCare prevails.  And once the system is in place who is to say that not only the elderly, persons with special needs and those suffering from expensive chronic diseases and conditions will not get the surgeries or level of care they need.  How about people who disagree with the powers that be?  Or any undesirable in the eyes of those on the IPAB panel? 

Reference and Related Articles:

Diagnosis & Treatment of Mild to Moderate Alzheimer's Disease

Part One: Researchers race to beat scourge of aging

Part Three: Burden of illness often heaviest for caregivers

UCLA on Alzheimer's Disease - young or old should read

Alzheimer’s Disease - Caregiver Tips

Final Stages of Alzheimer’s

Advances for Alzheimer's, Outside the Lab

Warning Signs: A New Test to Predict Alzheimer's

Super Spice Secrets: Can This Miracle Spice Stop Cancer, Alzheimer's and Arthritis?

Drinking Coffee Slashes Risk of Alzheimer’s

Stop Using 'Natural' Deodorants Until You Read This

Alzheimer’s Disease and Inappropriate Sexual Behavior

Pet Therapy

Animals Helping the Ailing, the Elderly, and the Young

Pets are way better than Therapy!

Low-Carb Diet May Slow Alzheimer’s Disease

Final Stages of Alzheimer’s

Activities for Alzheimer’s Patients

7 Alzheimer's Triggers by Dr. Blaylock – definitely worth listening to!!

Find Dementia Care

Games for Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's Homes

Buttered Popcorn Flavoring Linked to Alzheimer’s

Stop Using 'Natural' Deodorants Until You Read This

Warning Signs: A New Test to Predict Alzheimer's

Super Spice Secrets: Can This Miracle Spice Stop Cancer, Alzheimer's and Arthritis? 

Harvard: Chocolate Protects Against Alzheimer’s

The Secret; Care Givers are the ‘Silent’ Boss

The Hoax at the Bottom of Autism and Alzheimer’s

Remember 'The Girls' - Views by Ann Hood

Alzheimer's: Tips to make holidays more enjoyable 

“Death Panel” Three Years Later 

Dirty Little Secret: Rationing is at Heart of ObamaCare 

Did Obama hint at health-care rationing in SOTU? 

ObamaCare and me – Doctor Zane F. Pollard, MD – For Anyone Who Still Doesn’t Believe in Rationing and Death Panels if ObamaCare Passes 

The Petition for "Mandatory Euthanasia" for Senior Citizens Under Obama Care! 

Governor Palin: An Extra Chromosome of Love

Monday, November 18, 2013

Obamacare: The Final Nail In The Coffin For The Middle Class

Coffin-300x208 Tom Halloran: If there were any shreds of hope left that the stunning decline of the middle class could be turned around, Obamacare has absolutely destroyed them.  Over the past decade or so, the middle class in the United States has been absolutely eviscerated.  The number of working age Americans without a job has increased by 27 million since the year 2000, median household income in the U.S. has fallen for five years in a row, and the poverty numbers in this country are spiraling out of control.  And now here comes Obamacare.  As you will see below, Obamacare is causing millions of Americans to lose their current health insurance policies, it is causing health insurance premiums to explode to absolutely ridiculous levels, and it is systematically killing jobs even though the employer mandate has been delayed for a while.  All of this is creating a tremendous amount of stress for millions of middle class families that are already stretched extremely thin financially.  According to CNN, a survey that was conducted earlier this year found that 76 percent of all Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.  Most of those families simply cannot afford to pay much higher health insurance premiums for new policies that also come with much larger deductibles and significantly increased out-of-pocket costs.  Millions of those families will ultimately end up choosing to do without health insurance altogether, and that will create a whole host of new problems.  This is a disaster that is so enormous that it is really hard to put into words.  If the U.S. health care system was a separate country, it would be the 6th largest economy on the entire globe all by itself.  And now Obamacare is going to bring the entire U.S. health care system to its knees.

Obamacare: Since October 1st, The Number Of Americans With Health Insurance Has Fallen By Nearly 4 Million

Last week, Barack Obama decided to allow Americans to keep their current health insurance plans for one more year.

Isn’t that generous of him?  Especially considering the fact that he promised us over and over that if we liked our current health insurance policies that we would be able to keep them permanently.

The funny thing is that Obama is not actually changing the law.  So if your health insurance company allows you to stay on your current health insurance plan that does not meet the requirements of Obamacare, it is technically breaking the law.

And if you continue to stay on that current health insurance plan that does not meet the requirements of Obamacare, you are technically breaking the law.

It is just that Obama has promised not to enforce what the law says for one year.

For a president to just blatantly disregard the rule of law is a very dangerous precedent.  Do we really want the president to have the power to decide what laws are going to be enforced and what laws are not going to be enforced?

That sounds dangerously close to a dictatorship to me.

And in any event, there are many Americans that are not going to be able to keep their current policies no matter what Obama says.  For example, just two hours after Obama announced his plan last week, the state of Washington announced that they would not be allowing insurance companies to extend their old health insurance plans if they don’t comply with Obamacare under any circumstances…

State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler has rejected President Obama’s proposal to allow insurance companies to extend health insurance policies for people who have received notices that their policies will be cancelled at the end of the year.

Within two hours of President Obama’s news conference announcing the proposed administrative fix for Americans upset by their policy cancellations, Kreidler issued a statement rejecting the proposal.

“I understand that many people are upset by the notices they have recently received from their health plans and they may not need the new benefits [in the Affordable Care Act] today,” he said. “But I have serious concerns about how President Obama’s proposal would be implemented and more significantly, its potential impact on the overall stability of our health insurance market.”

“I do not believe his proposal is a good deal for the state of Washington,” Kreidler’s statement continued. “We will not be allowing insurance companies to extend their policies.”

How do you think the people of the state of Washington will respond to that?

Things are getting crazy out there, and the number of people that are losing their health insurance policies is absolutely stunning.

According to the Wall Street Journal, so far 106,185 Americans have enrolled in Obamacare since October 1st.  Most of those that have successfully enrolled have done so through the state insurance exchanges.  So far, only 26,794 Americans have signed up for health insurance using the federally run exchanges on HealthCare.gov.

Meanwhile, during that same time frame, 4.02 million Americans have had their health insurance policies cancelled.

So that means that the number of Americans with health insurance has actually decreased by 3,918,205 since October 1st.

Wasn’t Obamacare supposed to result in more Americans being covered?

And according to U.S. Senator Rand Paul, Obama not only knew that this would happen, he actually wrote the regulation that caused this to happen…

“I’m still learning about it. It’s 20,000 pages of regulations. The Bill was 2,000 pages and I didn’t realize this until this week, the whole idea of you losing or getting your insurance cancelled wasn’t in the original Obamacare. It was a regulation WRITTEN BY PRESIDENT OBAMA, three months later. So we had a vote, this is before I got up there. The Republicans had a vote to try to cancel that regulation so you COULDN’T BE CANCELLED, to grandfather everybody in. You know what the vote was? Straight party line. EVERY DEMOCRAT VOTED TO KEEP THE RULE THAT CANCELS YOUR INSURANCE.”

So now millions of Americans, including women battling cancer, are losing health insurance plans that they were depending upon.

Thanks Obama?

Obamacare: Skyrocketing Health Insurance Premiums

How much more are you willing to pay for health insurance than you are paying right now?

10 percent?

20 percent?

30 percent?

Well, according to one study health insurance premiums for men are going to go up by an average of 99 percent under Obamacare and health insurance premiums for women are going to go up by an average of 62 percent under Obamacare.

And of course some groups are going to see increases that are much larger than that.  For example, it is being projected that health insurance premiums for healthy 30-year-old men will rise by an average of 260 percent.

Ouch.

And there are some families out there that have already been hit with health insurance premium increases that are absolutely jaw-dropping.  In a previous article, I included the example of one family down in Texas that has been hit with a 539% rate increase…

Obamacare is named the “Affordable Care Act,” after all, and the President promised the rates would be “as low as a phone bill.” But I just received a confirmed letter from a friend in Texas showing a 539% rate increase on an existing policy that’s been in good standing for years.

As the letter reveals (see below), the cost for this couple’s policy under Humana is increasing from $212.10 per month to $1,356.60 per month. This is for a couple in good health whose combined income is less than $70K — a middle-class family, in other words.

Obamacare: Enormous Deductibles And Huge Out-Of-Pocket Expenses For All

It isn’t just health insurance premiums that are going up either.  Deductibles are going up too.  In fact, just check out what one survey of Americans living in seven different states recently discovered

Expenses for some policies can reach $6,350 for a single person and $12,700 per family, the most allowed by the health-care law, according to a survey by HealthPocket Inc. of seven states, including California and Ohio. That’s 26 percent higher than the average deductible in the seven states, and a scenario likely repeated across the country, said Kev Coleman, head of research and data at Sunnyvale, California-based HealthPocket.

That same article has a great quote from an elderly New Jersey resident.  82-year-old Larry Saphire thinks that if you have to pay a $5,000 deductible up front, “you might as well not have any insurance at all”…

“If you have to pay $5,000 upfront” when illness hits, “you might as well not have any insurance at all,” said Larry Saphire, 82, of West Orange, New Jersey, who shopped for coverage for his wife and two children, ages 16 and 21. “That’s not insurance.”

On California’s state-run exchange site, the standard low-premium “bronze” plan carries a $5,000 deductible per person, a $60 co-pay to see a doctor and a 30 percent fee, known as coinsurance, on hospital care. In Rhode Island, Blue Cross Blue Shield’s bronze plan has a $5,800 deductible while Missouri’s U.S.-run exchange offers plans by Anthem Blue Cross with the maximum-allowable $6,350 in out-of-pocket costs.

Obamacare: The Quality Of Care Is Going To Go Into The Toilet

A lot of Americans that are signing up for Obamacare are going to be in for a huge shock.  Many of the best hospitals and many of the best doctors are not covered by their plans

Meanwhile, sometime between March and June, the other shoe drops: People who bought exchange policies realize that the restricted networks insurers created to keep the premium costs low cut out the best hospitals and doctors. A newly insured child with cancer cannot get into a top pediatric hospital because her insurance has zero coverage for out-of-network emergency care. Tearful Mom goes on the evening news and says that she thought when they went on Obamacare, that meant they were safe, and why can’t I take my baby to Philadelphia Children’s Hospital, Mr. President?

Can you imagine being a parent in that situation?

In response, some hospitals are already filing suit over this.  For instance, check out what is happening over in Seattle

Seattle Children’s Hospital filed suit against Washington State’s Office of the Insurance Commissioner this week, after Obamacare implementation caused the hospital to be cut from four of the six insurance plans offered by the new Washington Health Benefit Exchange.

And even if you are on Medicare that does not mean that the quality of your care is going to stay the same either.  As Reuters just reported, UnitedHealth is dumping “thousands of doctors” from their Medicare Advantage plans for the elderly because of Obamacare…

UnitedHealth Group dropped thousands of doctors from its networks in recent weeks, leaving many elderly patients unsure whether they need to switch plans to continue seeing their doctors, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The insurer said in October that underfunding of Medicare Advantage plans for the elderly could not be fully offset by the company’s other healthcare business. The company also reported spending more healthcare premiums on medical claims in the third quarter, due mainly to government cuts to payments for Medicare Advantage services.

In the United States, we already pay much more for health care than everyone else in the world, and we typically have to wait longer to see a doctor than most of the rest of the industrialized world does.

Now Obamacare is going to make all of this even worse, and the quality of the care that we receive is going to go downhill fast.

Obamacare: The Jobs Killer

A while back, Obama unilaterally made the decision to delay the implementation of the employer mandate until 2015.

That was probably a good political decision, because it would have been a huge political issue in the 2014 elections.

But the truth is that we won’t have to wait until 2015 for Obamacare to start killing jobs.  In fact, according to CNBC it is already happening…

Approximately one-third of business decision-makers at companies with between 40 and 500 employees, say the health-care law has already increased their costs due to hikes in both the cost of insurance and compliance, according to a recent report from political-research firm Public Opinion Strategies. As a result, many business leaders say they are already making personnel decisions based on the Affordable Care Act.

Among franchised businesses, 27 percent report their company has replaced full-time workers with part-time workers and 31 percent have reduced worker hours. Among non-franchised businesses, 12 percent are replacing full-time workers with part-time workers or reducing hours. This is happening now, with more than a year before the mandate goes into effect; and undoubtedly, these numbers will rise as we approach next July’s “look back” period for tabulating workers’ hours.

It is kind of startling that we are already seeing employers make such big changes even though the employer mandate does not come into effect until 2015.  You can find a very long list of some of the employers that have already either eliminated jobs or cut hours because of Obamacare right here.

Remember, this is just the tip of the iceberg.  Once we get closer to the deadline things are going to get much, much worse.

At a time when the middle class desperately needs jobs, Obamacare is going to slaughter them.

And even if you are able to keep your current job, that does not mean that your health plan will remain the same.  In fact, Forbes is projecting that a staggering 51 percent of all employment-based health insurance plans will be canceled and replaced with new ones.

Overall, Forbes is projecting that an astounding 93 million Americans will eventually lose their current health insurance policies due to Obamacare.

Obamacare: Providing Huge Incentives For Many Americans To Work Less And Make Less Money

Did you know that Obamacare is going to cause millions of Americans to want to keep their incomes under certain levels?

If you make too much money under Obamacare, you will miss out on some absolutely massive health care subsidies.  The following is an excerpt from one of my previous articles

—–

The figures that you are about to see were calculated using the Kaiser Family Foundation subsidy calculator.  These numbers apply to a husband and a wife that are both 62 years old.

A non-smoking, married couple living in San Francisco, California earning $63,000 a year will have to pay $20,318 a year for a silver plan under Obamacare and $12,647 a year for a bronze plan.

At $63,000, that couple would be making too much money to be eligible for a subsidy, so that couple will have to pay the total cost of whatever plan they choose by themselves.

But if that couple only made $62,000 a year, things would dramatically change.

The plans would still cost the same, but the couple would now be eligible for an Obamacare subsidy of $14,428.

So a silver plan would end up costing them only $5,890, and they would ultimately pay nothing for a bronze plan.

In other words, by reducing their income by $1,000, that couple would save $14,428 if they got a silver plan or they would save $12,647 if they got a bronze plan.

Isn’t that bizarre?

—–

In the end, millions upon millions of middle class families will decide to go without health insurance entirely for one reason or another.

This will work great until they get into an accident or become seriously ill.

As I have discussed previously, approximately 60 percent of all personal bankruptcies in the United States are related to medical bills.  And most of those bankruptcies actually happen to people that are supposedly “covered” by health insurance.

Obamacare is going to make all of this so much worse.  Millions of middle class families will end up with no health insurance at all, and because so many of them are living paycheck to paycheck a single health emergency will be enough to send them hurtling down the path to financial oblivion.

If you get into an accident, a visit to the emergency room and a single night in the hospital can easily cost tens of thousands of dollars in many areas of the country.

If you get a serious illness such as cancer, the medical bills can be absolutely astronomical.  For instance, there are many cancer patients that rack up medical bills well in excess of a million dollars by the time that they die.

Something desperately needs to be done about our horrible health care system.  Unfortunately, Obamacare is going to make just about everything that is bad about our current system much, much worse.

And the American people are becoming increasingly disgusted and frustrated with Obamacare.  According to Real Clear Politics, an average of recent opinion polls shows that the American people are opposed to Obamacare by an average margin of 14.2 percentage points.

Article submitted by:  Veronica Coffin

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Attention Main Stream Media. Regarding Obamacare… I Told You So!

Gulag Bound  -  By: C. Steven Tucker -  Cross-Posted at the NoisyRoom and at AskMarion

Back on August 3rd, 2013 I wrote a piece exposing what I stated then will soon happen to millions of Americans if we do not support the Tea Party and Republican lead effort to defund Obamacare. In that piece, I stated when President Obama promised – “If you like your plan, you can keep your plan and no one will take it away from you, period” he was not telling the truth. Watch President Obama make this false promise below:

Video: "If you like your plan, you can keep your plan." - Barack Obama

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Below I will link to some real world examples of what is beginning to happen because the Obamacare “Health Insurance Exchange Marketplaces” opened on 10/1/13 and were funded (once again) by Republicans in the most recent Continuing Resolution on the evening of October 16, 2013.

Below I will link actual policy termination letters from four of my existing clients who hold individual health insurance policies from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois. The last names and policy numbers have been redacted in order to protect the privacy of these clients per 1996 HIPAA law.

  • Click here to download Stephen’s Obamacare termination letter.
  • Click here to download Robert’s Obamacare termination letter.
  • Click here to download Kathleen’s Obamacare termination letter.
  • Click here to download Michael’s Obamacare termination letter.

Please also note that in every case, the PPACA compliant ‘replacement plans’ offered to these clients are priced higher and in most cases much higher than what they are paying now. However, they’re not just priced higher, they expose these clients to a much higher out of pocket risk each year. Up to $12,700 for a couple and a family. Below are the outlines of coverage for each PPACA compliant alternative plan offered to these clients:

  • The Blue PPO Bronze 005. Click here to view the outline of coverage.
  • The Blue Bronze PPO 006. Click here to view the outline of coverage.
  • The Blue Choice Silver PPO 003. Click here to view the outline of coverage.
  • The Blue Choice Bronze PPO 005.Click here to view the outline of coverage.
  • The Blue Choice Bronze PPO 006. Click here to view the outline of coverage.

Notice the out of pocket costs with each of those plans? Every one of them has a higher out of pocket risk to this client than the risk his family assumes now and all of them are more expensive than what he pays now. With the exception of the “Bronze PPO 006? plan which more than DOUBLES his family’s out of pocket risk exposure on his current “HSA 100%” plan.

Secondly, here is a sample copy of a letter that my Humana individual and family policy holders are now receiving. They too are now being forced into the Obamacare exchanges either on 12/31/2013 or on 12/31/2014 depending on when they purchased their health plan. Notice that this client’s Obamacare replacement plan will triple his premium.

Thirdly, here is a sample copy of a letter that my Aetna clients are already receiving. These clients are now losing their individual and family health insurance plans. They too will be forced into an Obamacare compliant plan as of 12/30/2013 or 12/31/2014 where the cheapest – “Bronze” plan – will expose a couple or a family to a $12,700 out of pocket risk exposure each year for in network covered charges.

Fourthly, about a month after I penned my original piece on August 3rd, other Blue Cross associations all over the country began sending our their policy termination letters. You can see the Independence Blue Cross policy termination letter if you click here.

Click here to read another policy termination notice and Obamacare compliant replacement letter from Regence Blue Shield of Nebraska. Pay particular attention to $12,700 annual out of pocket expense risk that this family will now face when they are forced to switch to an Obamacare compliant “Bronze” plan on 12/30/2013. Notice that their premium doubled as well.

One thing you can be sure of, all Individual and Family health plans sold in Illinois by Blue Cross Blue Shield, Humana and Aetna after March 23, 2010 a.k.a. ‘non-Grandfathered’ plans will be terminated and replaced with an Obamacare compliant plan either by 12/31/2013 or by 12/31/2014 depending on when you purchased the plan. Also, since the aforementioned June of 2010 ruling was a federal ruling, this will be the case for any carrier who offers plans inside the exchanges in all other states as well.

Millions of individual and family health insurance plans have already been terminated and 16 million more Americans will soon lose their individual health insurance plans because of Obamacare.

  • CBS: A charter member of the Main Stream Media finally reports on 2 million Americans who have already lost their health plans:

Video: CBS: Over 2 Million Americans Have Already Received Insurance Cancellations Due To ObamaCare

  • CBS: They finally report on the true cost of Obamacare approved health insurance:

Video: CBS: ObamaCare Website Dramatically Underestimating Costs For Consumers

  • CBS News: Also reporting on hundreds of thousands losing their health insurance plans because of Obamacare:

Video: CBS: ObamaCare Forcing Hundreds Of Thousands To Lose Health Insurance Coverage

  • CBS News: “Obamacare resulting in dropped coverage and higher premiums:

Video: CBS: ObamaCare Resulting In Dropped Coverage And Higher Premiums

  • NBC News: Consumers facing sticker shock and policy cancellation notices due to Obamacare:

Video: NBC: Consumers Facing Sticker Shock Due To ObamaCare

  • The worst part about all of this is that NBC News is now reporting that President Obama knew, as early as July of 2010 that millions of Americans would lose their health insurance plans because of his health care law: 

Video: NBC: Obama Administration Knew ObamaCare Would Terminate Half Of Individual Plans

Below is a photocopy of a page of the federal register that proves that the Obama administration knew in 2010 that millions of Americans would lose their Individual & Employer Sponsored health insurance plans because of Obamacare. This regulation was written on purpose so that millions of existing policy holders would be forced to purchase health insurance inside the exchanges instead. The forced addition of millions of these policyholders – all who were assured by president Obama that they could ‘keep their plan‘ – will lower the cost or further subsidize the high cost of insuring sick people who will most certainly be purchasing subsidized health insurance inside the exchanges. In other words this was a deliberate action taken by HHS and a direct violation of the president’s promise.

Proof

President Obama is also falsely referring to these canceled plans as “substandard plans” from the ‘old market’. Nothing could be further from the truth. These plans were designed in large part by his health care law. All individual plans sold since 9/23/2010 already include 8 out of the 10 “Essential Health Benefits” that he states must be “added’ in January of 2014 in order to make them ‘better’. In fact, my clients who selected Maternity coverage with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois already have 9 out of the 10 “Essential Health Benefits”. Yet the President’s health care law requires that these plans must also be terminated and replaced with even more expensive plans in 2014. The evidence in this post prove that these plans are far from ‘substandard’ plans from the ‘old market’.

Remember, president Obama also promised rates would go down by $2,500? Watch him make that promise here:

San Jose Mercury News: Two time Obama voters shocked to receive policy cancellation notices and massive premium increases.

Video: Obama Says His Healthcare Plan Will Save Families $2,500

You can run your own Obamacare compliant rates by clicking on my Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois quote engine below:

If you’re not in Illinois, you can run your own Obamacare approved rates using my Humana quote engine here:

Please note: There is one major difference between my online quote engines and the “Health Insurance Exchange Marketplace” at HealthCare.gov. Mine actually work!

Months after I penned that original article – on August 3, 2013 – a flagship member of the main stream media – NBC – finally confirmed in their article entitled Thousands get health insurance cancellation notices“ that I was indeed speaking the truth and not a ‘fear-mongerer’, ‘racist’ or ‘liar’ as I have been labeled repeatedly by our ‘friends on the Left’ since writing that piece.

Several days before NBC finally confirmed I was right. A newspaper in California detailed the anger and frustration by two time Obama voters who were also losing their health plans and facing an increase in their family premium of $10,000 a year. You can read that California newspaper clip if you click here.

Oh and it’s not just individual and family policy holders who are losing their health insurance policies because of Obamacare. It’s employer sponsored group policy holders as well. Click here to see a copy of the California Farm Bureau Federation group policy termination letter sent to their insured members. The CBO is predicting that 14.5 million Americans will lose their health plans after 2014. I disagree. I am predicting more than 40 million Americans will lose their employer sponsored health insurance plans. I discussed why for the Fox Business television network. View the video on the Fox Business web site by clicking here:

Worse yet, those whom we count on to provide us with the care we need are also losing their health insurance plans because of Obamacare. Here is a letter that doctors and dentists in Illinois received all over the state. They too will be losing their health insurance plan as of 12/31/2013.

All of these policy holders are being forced to forfeit their existing plans and agree to accept an Obamacare compliant plan (along with the premium increases required) by December 31, 2013 or December 30, 2014 depending on when you purchase your plan. I discussed this for the Fox Business television network on 09/30/2013 the day before the Obamacare “Health Insurance Exchange Marketplace” opened.

Video: C. Steven Tucker Fox Business TV Network 09 30 13

Why is this happening now?

I will use the state of Illinois as an example. Governor Quinn had originally expected 16 health insurance carriers to offer products within the Illinois Obamacare exchange. Only 6 carriers have chosen to sell plans within the exchange. They are as follows:

  • Humana
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois
  • Aetna
  • Coventry
  • Land of Lincoln Health
  • The Carle Foundation, a nonprofit hospital network based in Urbana

Since these carriers have chosen the option to offer a “Medal” (Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum) product within the exchange, individual/family health insurance plans that they have already sold in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 must be terminated and replaced with a plan that conforms to the design of the “Medal” plans sold inside the exchanges. Either on 12/31/2013 or 12/31/2014 depending on when the plan was purchased. These new replacement plans must include all 10 of the federally mandated “Essential Health Benefits” and they must conform in design to the deductible and other out of pocket expenses that will be included with the “Medal” plans sold inside the exchanges.

There are however two large insurance carriers that are staying out of the new Obamacare “Health Insurance Exchange Marketplace” in Illinois and most other states. Those carriers are United HealthOne and Assurant Health.

Although these two carriers must still adopt all 10 of the new federally mandated “Essential Health Benefits” and they must also offer guaranteed insurability (no preexisting conditions) to all applicants during ‘Open Enrollment” periods in 2014. The deductible and coinsurance arrangements that they offer to their clients can be different than the standard deductibles and coinsurance arrangements that will be offered in the exchanges until December 30, 2014.

This means that their prices will be inherently lower than the “Medal” plans sold inside the exchanges. And, the out of pocket expenses don’t have to be $12,700 out of pocket for a couple of a family as is the case with the cheapest “Bronze’ plan sold inside the Obamacare “Health Insurance Exchange Marketplace”. This is most especially true for individuals with MAGI – Modified Adjusted Gross Incomes – higher than 400% above the Federal Poverty Level. Those income levels would be anyone who makes less than the following income levels:

  • $46,960 for an individual
  • $62,040 for a couple
  • $78,120 for a family of three
  • $92,200 for a family of four
  • $110,280 for a family of five
  • $126,360 for a family of six

Those Americans will receive NO taxpayer funded ‘subsidy’ to artificially lower the high cost of the expensive Obamacare Qualified Health Plans that will be sold within the new ‘Health Insurance Exchange Marketplace”.

Because these two carriers are staying out of the Obamacare exchanges around the country. They are both able to make the following commitment to potential new policy holders. If you purchase a health insurance plan from either of these carriers prior to 2014 you will not lose or have to change that health plan and you will not receive a premium increase until December 30, 2014. You will also be able to design your own plan with your own deductible, your own co pay and other policy features that after 2014 will be designed by the federal government.

Watch United HealthOne make this promise here.

Run your own quotes from United HealthOne by clicking on their logo below:

http://www.a1insuranceaz.com/images/carriers/united-health-one.png

Read Assurant Health’s promise here.

Run your own quotes from Assurant Health by clicking on their logo below:

It’s not just health plans that have been terminated. Health insurers have also been terminated.

It’s not just health plans that have been terminated. We’ve lost 13 carriers as well. In July of 2013 we lost the 13th individual health insurance carrier since Obamacare passed. See this insurance company’s exit letter here. The other individual health insurers who have pulled out of the individual health insurance market since the passage of Obamacare are as follows:

  1. American National
  2. American Republic > 35,000 people LOST their health plans when American Republic exited the market. Hundreds of jobs were lost as well.
  3. American Medical Security
  4. American Community Mutual
  5. Standard Life & Accident
  6. Principle Financial
  7. nHealth
  8. World Insurance
  9. Unicare
  10. Guarantee Trust Life < One of my clients in Naperville, Illinois who received that letter lost her plan during Breast Cancer treatment!
  11. Coventry
  12. Physicians Benefit Trust
  13. Independence Holding Group

Obamacare is creating a massive insurance monopoly. These smaller carriers that I used to be able to offer to my clients, the carriers with the good prices are now gone. They are being gobbled up by the larger carriers. We now have only a handful of health insurance carriers left in the country. Think about it, you know this. Look at the exchange plans and see if you can find more than 5 carriers who are offering plans.

Eliminating health insurance carriers and creating a taxpayer funded monopoly is not ‘competition’. It is a monopoly and nothing drives up prices like a monopoly. Period.

Article originally published on C. Steven Tucker blog, October 22, 2013

**The only good thing about being right when nobody listens to you, is to be able to eventually say, “I told you so”.  The problem with ObamaCare and the whole Obama presidency is that it is and has been so devastating to our country and freedom in general that it isn’t even fun or rewarding to be able to say it!  AskMarion~